The Ghana Prisons Service in collaboration with the Legal Resources Centre has organized a two-day external stakeholders’ Consultations Workshop on the draft Prisons Service Bill 2021.
The Workshop which brought together representatives of some key stakeholders of the service and some selected officers from all the prison establishments was to solicit ideas from stakeholders to review and produce a comprehensive bill which when passed into law will stand the test of time.
Speaking at the workshop, held at the Coconut Groove Regency Hotel in Accra last Wednesday, the Director-General of Prisons, Mr. Isaac Kofi Egyir said the essence of the Bill was to improve the regulatory framework concerning the administration of some key areas and also incorporate the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules) to further engender humane treatment and protection of inmates’ rights.
He emphasized the need for Ghana to introduce a parole policy into Ghana’s prisons system to help check to overcrowding.
Parole is permission for a prisoner to be released before their period in prison is finished, with the agreement that they will behave well.
“Overcrowding in prisons remains a huge concern of the Prisons Service as well as local and international human rights bodies. As part of interventions needed to solve this is the introduction of parole under the Bill,” he said, and added that the introduction of Parole will facilitate the integration and acceptance of deserving inmates back into society whilst maintaining criminal responsibility”
Mr. Egyir expressed his gratitude to the Legal Unit of the Service and participants for their support towards the drafting of the bill.
The Director of Prisons in charge of Operations, Mr. Samuel Akolbire who was the chairman for the Workshop said the Bill when passed will advance the interest of prison inmates in Ghana, the prisons staff, and the entire Ghanaian community at large.
He, therefore, entreated the stakeholders to give off their maximum support and contribution in the review process.
The Director of Democracy, Human Rights and Governance office, USAID Ghana, Mrs. Audra Lykos said the government of Ghana and the United States has been collaborating over the years to support the security governance in Ghana as well as its related justice delivery dimensions.
She expressed her thankfulness to the Legal Resource Center and its partners for leading civil society initiatives to strengthen justice delivery and improve public confidence in the criminal justice system including the management of Ghana’s prisons.
The Executive Director of Legal Resource Center and Chief of Party, USAID Justice Sector Support, Miss Daphne Lariba Nabila stressed that even though there has been considerable progress made over the past two decades in Ghana’s criminal justice system leading to it being adjudged the sixth-best in West Africa, according to the World Justice Project Rule of Law Index for 2020, the criminal justice system still faces challenges such as resource constraints, poor documentation systems, and a highly formalized court system with strict rules for submitting complaints of rights violations.
According to Miss Nabila, this has led to numerous violations of the rights of citizens, slow and delayed adjudications, high numbers of remand prisoners, over-crowding in the prisons, the backlog of cases, and prolonged detentions which the bill seeks to address.
Also present at the workshop were the Consultant of the Bill, Dr. Isidore Tuffour; the Chief Legal Officer of the Ghana Prisons Service, Deputy Director of Prisons (DDP) Gloria Essandoh; the Commanding Officer of Prisons Headquarters, DDP Edmund Boye Odonkor; the Officer-in-Charge of Akuse Local Prison, DDP Godwin Mawuena Hoenyedzi; the Chaplain -General of the Ghana Prisons Service, Apostle Assistant Director of Prisons (ADP) James Tetteh and the Officer in Charge of James Camp Prison, ADP Raphael Tuekpe.
Others were the 2IC of Koforidua Local Prison, ADP Christopher Hayibor; the Officer-in-Charge of the Senior Correctional Centre, ADP Millicent Owusu; the Financial Controller of the Service, ADP Brandford Gilbert Hama; the Second in Command (2IC) Kumasi Central Prison, ADP Alhaji Ousmane Tasembedo and the Officer-in-Charge of Gender, ADP Augustina Mensah-Fiadzo.
Source: Mybrytfmonline.com/GPS/Obed Ansah
